Survivor Series Wargames Reviews

Published: Friday, December 6, 2024

by Matthew Nazario

Women’s Wargames Match: Team Rhea Ripley prevails over Team Liv Morgan

Grade: B+

While this match did not nearly have as large of a buildup compared to the other wargames match later in this show, this was a great display of the talent within WWE’s incredibly talented women’s division and overall, a fun time.

The second half of this contest helped with this match’s pacing and overall performance, with Iyo Sky doing her now-patented trash can dive off the top of the wargames cage. The memorable finish had Rhea Ripley secure the win for her team after hitting her signature “Riptide” slam to the current Women’s World Champion, Liv Morgan. This generated a huge crowd reaction and set the stage for the penultimate bout between the two women soon.  

Aside from having Ripley pin Morgan to secure the victory here, many other story elements present in the buildup to this match did not seem to progress much further. There was yet another tease of Tiffany Stratton’s Money in the Bank cash in on two of her teammates Liv Morgan and WWE Women’s champion Nia Jax, but Stratton became too distracted to go through with it.

There was no mystery reveal, or heel turn to reveal who Jade Cargill’s assailant was, who was injured on Smackdown a few weeks prior and replaced in this match by Bayley. The center conflict of this match between Ripley and Morgan has been brewing since early last summer, and hopefully this was an indicator that it will end sooner rather than later to prevent the feud from becoming stale.

A “Reborn” Shinsuke Nakamura defeated LA Knight, wins his 3rd United States Championship

Grade: B

This was another good match on this card, and arguably the best Nakamura has looked in some time.  
After quite a few years of wandering up and down the card, WWE has given Shinsuke Nakamura a fresh coat of paint. An admittedly intimidating new wayward samurai persona, accompanied by a chilling remix of his iconic entrance theme. This marked his first championship win since 2021, and his first win on pay-per-view since 2020.

Nakamura, at one point the hottest act in wrestling many moons ago, has cooled down quite a bit since then. However, this could possibly be what he needs to potentially reach similar heights once again. With Nakamura set to go on an excursion to Japan based promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH in the wintertime, one must wonder if this decision to place the title on him was one to have him bring the championship overseas.  

As for LA Knight, his reign ends at 119 days. Due to no fault of his own, his run with the belt did not quite reach the heights many had hoped for. Smackdown’s men’s division certainly has its standouts, if the best-of-seven series between Andrade and Carmelo Hayes over the past few months was any indication. However, none of Knight’s challengers quite matched his charisma as well as the former champion, Logan Paul, did. If there are any silver linings Knight’s popularity has continued to skyrocket, and whether the plan for him is to continue and chase the United States championship or move on to bigger things, the future is bright for the mega star.

Bron Breakker retains the Intercontinental Championship in a thriller against Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser

Grade: A

Aside from the main event, this match was absolutely show-stealing material. All three men brought a level of physicality that created a type of chaos that thrived in a triple-threat setting. WWE has been on fire as of late when it comes to their multi-person matches, with this bout being no different.  

Bron Breakker, with his near freakish athleticism and speed, continues to cement himself amongst WWE’s elite. At the young age of 27, he has made a case to be one of the faces of the company for a very long time. Ludwig Kaiser has grown out of simply being a henchman to Gunther, absolutely shining in his weekly opportunities, even being a few seconds away in this bout from winning the title.  

Sheamus’s odyssey for his first intercontinental championship continues. The only remaining accolade for the Celtic Warrior has escaped him for over a decade now. While time will only tell, wishful thinking will lead the WWE fandom, me included, to hope he will eventually get his big Intercontinental championship win. Even at the age of 46, he has continued to be one of the best performers on the active roster.

If WWE needed a suggestion for Saturday Night’s Main Event from Long Island next week, I for one would certainly not mind if these men ran it back.

Gunther retains the World Heavyweight Championship against Damian Priest, with yet another shady finish

Grade: B

Another great championship match between these two men, had yet another sour ending when Finn Balor attacked Priest when the referee was not looking, allowing Gunther to secure the victory. 

The aftermath of the Judgment Day, which exiled both Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest from the group, was advanced by Balor yet again double crossing his former best friend. However, similarly to the feud between Rhea and Liv Morgan, it has been going on for some time and continues to drag along. Although he was defeated, Priest has improved in all aspects of his work over the past year, which was evident in this matchup. Despite losing his World Heavyweight Championship at Summerslam in August, the crowd seems to embrace him now more than ever which is a great sign for the future. 

The most interesting feature of this bout was Gunther once again could not put down Priest on his own, and while he did not ask for Balor’s assistance. help is help all the same. Gunther has been able to handle all challengers he has faced up to this point on his own merits, but has struggled during his two bouts with Priest; this arc of self-doubt for the champion is very interesting. 

It was announced that Balor will challenge Gunther in two weeks for the World Heavyweight Championship, we shall see how this story progresses then.  

The OG Bloodline survives against the New Bloodline in one of the best Wargames matches ever

Grade: A+

Genuinely, this was one of the greatest Wargames matches since WWE had reintroduced the concept a few years ago. The Bloodline civil war was a storyline worthy of this stipulation, and the years of buildup led to the best match of the night.  

The unexpected alliance formed by CM Punk and Roman Reigns proved to be as interesting as advertised, including Punk saving Reigns from a disastrous splash by Bronson Reed, and the two shaking hands to close the match. The Usos, Sami Zayn, Bronson Reed and the Guerillas of Destiny all shined as well, however Jacob Fatu was certainly the standout above the rest.

Since arriving in WWE in June, “The Samoan Werewolf” Jacob Fatu has instantly become a fan favorite due to his intimidating presence, behemoth strength, and athleticism as well as his incredible potential. His performance here was no different, and was a preview of what he can do when he inevitably ventures out of the Bloodline and moves onto bigger things on his own.  

Solo Sikoa also deserves his flowers. He had received mountains of criticism during the springtime for not being able to fill the shoes of Roman Reigns, who was on hiatus after Wrestlemania. Now, he has recently blossomed into quite the entertaining villain. It is evident that he is being more himself than before, less trying to replicate Roman and more of his own personality, which has certainly helped.

This match certainly left a lot more questions than answers. With no surprise returns or post shenanigans, when will the inevitable return of The Rock take place, and will he be revealed as the secret leader of the New Bloodline? Where does Sikoa and the New Bloodline go from here after being defeated by the OG’s?

Perhaps most interesting, for helping his old manager Paul Heyman by helping Roman Reigns in his effort to take down Solo Sikoa, what is the favor CM Punk keeps mentioning that Heyman owes him? 
I, for one, cannot wait to see how it all turns out.

I am delighted to give Survivor Series: Wargames 2024 a solid B+. 

Matthew Nazario can be reached at matthew.nazario@student.shu.edu. 

 

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